


Sehnsucht

by MinisteryOfMonsters



Series: In Another Life [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Brotherly Affection, Brothers, Canon Rewrite, Canon: Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa, Childhood Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Family Fluff, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Issues, Other, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:54:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28506300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinisteryOfMonsters/pseuds/MinisteryOfMonsters
Summary: Alphonse felt the tears before he could even finish the thought.Standing, waiting.Until the sun-lit gaze of his brother's eyes caught his own.---Edward and Alphonse, two brothers separated and worlds apart, reunite for the first time in 3 years.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric, Edward Elric & Winry Rockbell
Series: In Another Life [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2173902
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	Sehnsucht

**Author's Note:**

> Quick note - in this version, Alphonse didn't meet Edward prior to these events. This is his first time meeting his brother after 3 years.
> 
> Oneshot was inspired by [this artwork](https://finnicart.tumblr.com/post/633095189512290304/forever-sad-that-conqueror-of-shamballa-didnt) on Tumblr.

In anyplace, Alphonse would have been content. On the green hills of Risonbool, of cows and crops stretching for miles, or the cobblestone pathways of Central, the clicks of black hardened boots and militant blue. _Anywhere_ that felt like home. A comfort he could lean on when the world became too much, when he knew his lungs could breathe and soar. 

He wasn’t so lucky.

Wrath was dead. Strange, flying machines hurling with smoke from screaming engines flew overhead below the brittle roof of the abandoned city, left for the past to wipe away among the blasts bursting in the sky. Circles of alchemic power surged against the ground from where Alphonse stood and surrounded the space of a once thriving city centre that glowed a violent pink.

The faint, distant sound of Winry and Sheska running beside the rubble of broken stones and red pallets only barely brought him back from wherever the mind roamed. Perhaps, reeling in a billion questions and unanswered regrets. 

So much. _Too much._

Where was his brother? Where was Edward? _Please, where was he?_

“Al!” Winry called from afar, tripping over the gaps in the stone and holding a leather case close around her shoulder. Sheska was not far behind, perplexed by the metal objects taking flight around them. “Al, are you ok?”

He didn’t answer straight away, the words caught in his throat. “Yeah, I think so.”

“What are those things?” Sheska asked. “It’s like they came out from the ground!”

“ _I don’t_ -“ He did it again, blinking a few times. “I don’t know. I just wanted to open the gate…”

Then, a flash. A speck of paint sowed on steel rushed towards them with a trail of dark murky fumes left behind. It was alone, an outlier against the browns and blacks of the instruments and came dangerously close to the three before rushing past at great speed. It crashed ahead of them, its wings blown from its body with each impact crushing the brick and a dust cloud cloaking it into a blind eye. Its mere strength versus the gale was enough to rattle the crimson cloak of Al’s attire, and fling his grown ponytail across his face in all directions. Winry and Sheska nearly came crumbling to its will, the case held protectively.

The impact ceased, a gentle aftermath as it began to clear. Alphonse was already on his toes, running into the blind fog against Winry’s sudden wishes to stay back. But, whether out of curiosity or desperation, Al couldn’t stop himself.

He had a feeling, a hunch. He needed to be sure.

The object had broken in two, the lid of glass shattered on the ground and the wings thrown into neglected buildings scarcely standing. A figure was laid, obscured by a flock of deep yellow strands, brown clothes and white gloves stained with grime. Muscles were already trying to work, pushing the body into a sitting stance.

Al didn’t need to look any further. He knew that iconic blonde from anywhere.

He ran.

Then, like a forceful hand on his arm, Alphonse paused.

Edward was older, _taller._ Flocks from his fringe laid curled around his face, grown over the years and tied back into a long ponytail reaching past his shoulders. Alphonse remembered his brother being only a year older than him and even now with the reminder of Winry at the back of his mind, a woman he mistook for a stranger instead of the fond childhood friend he used to play with after school, he wished it to be false.

The world had grown without him, his body stagnant from within the gate and memories he wished he could remember taken away into the void.

What if he wasn’t the same person, what if the Alphonse his brother knew was entirely different? What if _Edward_ was different?

His friends tried to catch him up, spending his years training with Izumi and reaching for a speck of light that could remind him of what he once had. But, there was nothing. Even with a guiding hope, the joy of bringing back his brother from the other side—as Izumi put it—there was still the glaring fact.

He was a child, taking the slow path.

He was a child, looking on at the figure that begrudgingly rubbed against his forehead with a groan. Looking on at his eldest brother, gone for three years but aged even more.

Alphonse felt the tears before he could even finish the thought. 

Standing, _waiting._

Until the sun-lit gaze of his brothers eyes caught his own.

For a moment, the hand merely hovered. Relaxing, clenching, until it slacked to the russet fabric of Ed’s trousers with an audible thump. Lips parted, as if to say something but the only sound was the gentle exhale of air and the fall of his shoulders.

There was people running behind, Alphonse could hear them. But, he didn’t look. Didn’t dare to, in fear that the slightest aversion would snatch away this one small chance of certainty.

“ _Al?”_

A hitch, a sound dripping with pressure no longer trapped and eyes wide to the tone, soft and quiet. It had been _so long_ since he heard that voice.

“ _Brother?”_

Strained as it was, it acted as an anchor, an extra push that Edward needed to bring his body to stand. Arched, maybe pained by the crash, but balanced with two strong legs. Alphonse couldn’t read his face, or even see him clearly.

Damn these tears.

It only took a few steps, almost calculated—nervous, that Edward finally found the strength in his arms to curb the desperate need to reach out. He was thankful for the strain, for once. None of that could be said for the involuntary pitch in his voice, however.

_“C’mere…”_

It felt like a flutter in his chest, a stab to the heart so powerful that the air in his lungs forced an unwanted gasp of shrouded weeps. Lips were already quivering and the fear that held Al back was gone in an instant because _he was right there._

What the hell was he waiting for?

Alphonse forced his legs. They carried him, scattered dirt fleeing from the cracks in stone. He vaguely remembered the sound of tearful laughter, morphed with disbelief and reprieve all at once and all the forces in the world couldn’t stop him from leaping into his brothers arms and knocking them both to the ground with gripped vices around their bodies.

It hurt, like any landing would, but who cared? Because the only thing that mattered, even with the distant sound of flashing lights and eruptions in the air, was the warmth of their own embrace.

Alphonse was blurting words, mixed and mashed and dressed with wet sobs soaking the shoulder of Edwards coat. He mumbled apologies, delights and reliefs and all his eldest brother could do was wrap his arms around his waist and pull him closer, a hand supporting the back of Al’s head and a thumb tracing the edges of his scalp.

“Brother, I’m so sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

_I’m sorry I’m not that Alphonse Elric anymore._

_I’m sorry that you had to pay such a high cost to bring me back._

_I’m sorry I caused this mess to happen._

_I’m sorry I can’t remember._

_I’m sorry._

_I’m sorry._

Over and over.

Half the time, Alphonse wasn’t even sure what he was apologising for. The world? This horrible situation? For Wrath? For _anything?_

He didn’t know, but it all came out in multitudes. Piles upon piles of jumbled statements outside of his control because he _wanted him back._

Because if he kept talking, kept mumbling nonsensicals, then he wouldn’t have to see the grimace in his brothers eyes. He wouldn’t have to see how far he’d fallen. How he could never make up for the sacrifice Edward made.

He didn’t want to admit that it was for nothing.

Because he wasn’t _that_ Alphonse Elric. Not _his_ little brother. 

He could never—

Alphonse was pulled back and two hands gripped the sides of his face, curled around his damp rosy cheeks and so sudden that his eyes clamped shut.

He didn’t want to see his face. He couldn’t bare it.

“Look at me.”

_No, please don’t make me._

“Al, _look at me.”_

It was either morbid curiosity, for the tightened muscles that weakened in effort around his eyes, but slowly the light crawled into Al’s golden gaze and watched on with butterflies swarming in his chest.

He waited, agonisingly, for the harsh truth to slap him across the face and drown him in everlasting torment. Al shook even as the blank and quivering look of his eldest brother peered on without a word.

“ _I’m sorry.”_ Because Alphonse couldn’t help but say it one last time, as if it wasn’t enough.

Edward could only shake his head, albeit lightly; smooth and unnoticed, and press his lips tight in conjunction. He combed over Al’s face, micro flickers of the iris in search of _something._

Then, Edward relaxed his shoulders, curled his lips and brushed a gentle thumb across his little brothers cheek.

“You dummy.”

Al was sure he’d cried all over again. But, stumped in the moment, he could only stare.

He allowed whatever forces to bring them closer, foreheads touching with the slightest push and hands resting over sleeves wrinkled and worn. Al would have reached further, to scare away the sadness that trailed down his own brothers face. But, he didn’t feel brave enough to try.

“I missed you,” Edward could only whisper. “I missed you _so much,_ Al.”

Hands gripped tighter, yet he still couldn’t speak.

“ _My little brother_.” It sounded like affirmation, as if for a moment the world would dare to be cruel and lie. “It worked, you’re _alive._ ”

Then, somehow, Alphonse managed to part his lips, delicate as the words came. “You’re home.”

A gentle nod. “Yeah.”

He was scared to let go, if even the fabric could slip from his hands and vanish for eternity. So, Al leaned into the touch of his brothers gloves and promised himself never to let go. He would _never_ lose him again.

Weak taps of feminine heels came closer, and this once did the brothers allow the connection to break and turn. Still, they held tightly, and water-filled eyes looked up to see Winry Rockbell having abandoned the leather case to her friend—who gave them the space they desperately needed— and failing to hold back her own relief.

Tears fell down her face, and a smile curled; meant only for them.

“I was wondering when you’d show up.”

Alphonse felt the cool breeze kiss his cheek when Edward removed his hand to reach for her. An offer, in which Winry could never refuse. He led her as she kneeled her bare legs against the rough shell of the dirt and curling her arms around his body, just as he rested his own on her waist.

“ _Winry._ ” Edward spoke, breathless.

The name prompted a tighter grip, her face pressing further into the base of Edwards neck and encouraging words of comfort from the mechanic that bit back anymore waterfalls to surface. 

“Welcome home, Ed.”

He scoffed, wet with tears and sniffling back. “Thanks.”

Alphonse couldn’t help the tinge of pride in his every beat, smiling even more at the sight they could only dream of. Now, after so many years waiting and yearning, they were back together again. The realisation pushed Al to join them in their embrace, grouped together and adjusting their arms until all three were pressed in their collected warmth.

Childhood friends wrapped in a cloak of longing passion and daring to never fade away. Eyes closed to the solace and rainfalls were welcomed in the moment. Sheska, even as her attention averted to the chaos above and the unknown, never spoke a word to ruin the needed clarity. With what little she could do, she gave them that much at least.

Except, Edward was the first to look away. The sounds in the air, the stink of metal and petrol as they swarmed around them, he couldn’t ignore it anymore. But, even still, he couldn’t let go.

Just this once, just a little longer.

Let him have this much, this small moment of happiness and safety, before he would be taken away.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! How is the new year treating you?
> 
> This is my first try at writing for Fullmetal Alchemist, so if anything seems a little rough in characterisation then I apologise in advance. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it! Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts! I plan on doing other FMA related stuff in the future so stick around if you'd like!


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